e e e e e e e will specif how does he come oh do in our school
right okay we'll call this meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I'd like to just start by acknowledging uh that today is indigenous people's day this is a time to honor the rich cultures and contributions of indigenous communities
and to reflect on our commitment to inclusivity in our schools let's continue to promote understanding and respect for indigenous perspectives ensure that all voices are valued in our district uh first item on the agenda is adoption of the agenda I move to approve
second I have a motion by Monica a second by Jake any conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion passes uh there are there is no recognition happening this month uh we
have some presentations so data coaches we will start with that good evening I'm Vanessa the K3 data coach um 4678 will present and then high school is going to wait um until November um and we're going to give you
right clear up today data uh that we've completed here in October uh as a do as a data coach I kind of look over the screenings that happen at the K3 um along with uh Jen gusa and
Laura clawen um we collaborated teams um to work through the data um all of it is based upon fast Bridge um the different screeners within fast Bridge that's our um big system that we use for that um we collaborate with Team meetings we meet
with them mon quarterly whenever teachers send emails all the time kind of a thing it's um ongoing and then we also have a student support team um the state of Minnesota has an mtss system um that we are pretty
heavily involved in um and then we look at our kiddos whether it being from gifted Behavior academic anything in between uh we update our strategic plan every year and look forth um for this
school year we have about 82% of our incoming kindergarteners that have been School Readiness screened um which is a phenomenal number um and then we just always want to continue to catch up those kids to make sure that they're screened so we can catch anything um
with that screening um this is current data here um currently we have 67 kiddos that are eligible to be screened um 40 of them only showed up this year um but that's okay because we do do it again three more or two more times January and
then they also offer a March one um if we can't get all the kiddos at that point um again updating our strategic plan we want of course all third grade students to learn how to read and know how to read theonics piece to the comprehension piece of it um and we will
just continue to strive to reach again another 5% another 5% continue on with that um here's current data down here 66% of our students are currently meeting Benchmark at or above that Benchmark in fast
Bridge um this is a lot of information but if you just pay attention to the left column here those are the kiddos that are below and then the right column are the kiddos that above that are above so we have a lot to be um astounded by I
guess you know on the right hand column there like look at all these kiddos a or above reading in reading and then Following over there in math like we're doing great things at pm and Everyone likes this data compare ourselves to others so you can see the
state average and then pem is Just a Touch Above It And this is reading uh last year's data is along the bottom as well and then math State average and pn's at the top for now um and just keep in mind this is
this is just third grade MCA data uh the four through six um they do it every year we just uh the state of Minnesota just offers it in third grade um but we do other Diagnostics tests in K one and two to get them at the proficiency that
there's up there there we go the next crew well I have a question for you absolutely how fast Bridge how does that gel then with the MCAS um it's a state given assessment and it's all gelled together it's all
they work collabora collaboratively together um nobody really knows the MC MCA questions that's always a okay the wild card it is yep and teachers can't even help um they aren't given they're given practice questions but they're not
given a specific test otherwise you probably teach to the test you know more than you know things um but fast Bridge it's depending on what grade level we do letter sounds letter names um decoding segmenting um and then all the way up to
comprehension fluency accuracy all of those things which are in a lump sum part of the MCAS okay sure all right thank you okay and then me and K will take over next um for the 48 again um had the
46 data coach I'm the 78 data coach um in the past we've always presented a lot of NCA data the boards requested maybe less of that this year um again we've done it I feel like over the last 10 years we've done a really good job on the MCAS we'll still have just one slide on the MCA just to kind of show how last year went to just as results um and then
we'll go into some more real time data as requested so um so that's just that that yeah that's us and what we're going to do okay so here's our MCA data from um spring of 2024 um we got here again one of our BM strategic plan goals always
was to report to the board on how we're doing based on MCAS if our goal is always to be in the top five of our um education Consortium which is now called stem forward comparing 22 kind of area schools and then also us with the state average in terms of how will we do MCA wise um so again from this past spring
this is the ma I it's May a little tough to see the words but this is the math one reading and science we just sum them all up into one slide as opposed to doing all the individual grade levels this year so how are we doing in general grades four through eight where we have many MCA tests right um so in math again we're about 11% above State average um
and in the top five as we've been often in the past again 10 plus years reading just outside the top five that that's why that one's yellow so that was I'm six about 6% above the state average and then science also in the top five of area schools so um just based on what I've seen over the past years or past
many years I've been doing this that probably puts us somewhere around the the top 20 25% of schools in the state and I'm sure we have individual grade levels in the top even higher than that so um some very good scores as we've had in the past years so um like if I'm looking at this
for average proficiencies in math 55% of our students are proficient in math on average in four8 for math yeah they just averaging all the grade levels together yes State average is 44 and actually again down very much from from to so down about 10% from where it used to be
so everyone's down a bunch um we we're still compared to many schools performing very well in the state but that's where we're at right now at 45% of our students are not proficient in math um you know are they proficient or not it's taking a couple day test right um anybody can anybody have a bad day A
bad couple days Su as we have students that opt out too and that can affect that percentage as well um and again proficient there's a proficiency which is what this percentage is like are 50 or above there's also partial proficiency which is means close to the average and I bet we have a fair if we included that in here too um I bet we'd
have even a much higher percentage so um but yes in terms of passing getting the 50 the bar um that's where it's at just kind of averaging all the grade levels together if so did you say that if a student doesn't take it that that affects the score does that actually drops it down score down students opt
out um that was just happened a few years ago where they decided because others were having people opt out and then they're like oh it doesn't affect % but it does so student let's say a student who we think might do well Ops out it still counts against us so so again we always we encourage and I S em
most people just take it doesn't hurt when to take the test so we hope people leave do we know how many roughly do not maybe a couple of grade it just depends I mean it's a little more than it used to be but it's not a ton no but that comes across as a zero essentially
correct okay so that definitely changes it my other question just sheer curiosity like what's the highest average in the state in the state oh gosh um youbody at 100% yeah it depends on the
grade level I'm sure there are some smaller schools I've seen that have have it um and you can look up actually the average of every District in the state again it's kind of trick when you look at the whole state you have schools that have like 30 kids you know um but high percent maybe 70 maybe 85 I mean 80 just
depends on the year you know I can look it up but um yeah it's is trying to find perspective from that I think the best perspective we can get is kind of the state average and just again schools in our area like here's kind of how we compare to people around us you know because it's probably different than comparing to the city different
comparing to yeah schol so factoring in you know that some kids maybe there's a couple that opted out maybe and some are not as maybe great at take Taking test or whatever when when you guys look at
these and you okay 45% of our students are and I'm going to just say not proficient in and that that's probably not accurate but what are the do you then come to do you come together and
you're like okay we have a plan and what are we doing for that like how does that work we've got a slide coming up here Julie that kind of gives some strategies that we do like Mass Support classes we look at our Benchmark reports so we have some things kind of come up answer some of that you can ask
all right I am going to share on the 46 fast bridge data um this slide shows how fast Bridge users um get split up into four categories we have advanced uh those students are very likely to meet grade level goals low risk they're
likely to meet grade level goals uh the some risk students are unlikely to meet grade level goals and when we look at that that'll be like kids that get reading interventions and finally we have the high-risk students and they are
very unlikely to meet grade level expectations and I just wanted you to know that many of those students already have an IEP and interventions in place so let's look at those uh this is the reading Baseline so
as you can see uh fourth grade has 66% of students that are at grade level fifth grade is at 56% % and sixth grade has 66% of students that are meeting their grade level goals and uh fourth grade is at 66% of
students performing a grade level fifth grade has 67% and sixth grade has 81% of students that are meeting their grade level goals okay and then again that was for the 46 um grades 4 through six use
fastbridge um a little more for us at 78 um all us English and math teachers are using iel more for data for assignments um for things kind of targeted more for our curriculum so um so this is new i' I've used this in the past um but this
is the first I'm using as data okay so you I'm kind of learning a little more about it as I go but this is I'm my bad um this is reading level data for seventh and eighth grade okay um now these numbers again they mean something different than the fast Bridge ones um you'll see numbers in the hundreds right
um the first two counts are kind of overall reading level ones okay um these are kind of overall reading level ones and then there's some specific categories like the dark green one is reading strategy level um how good students can um strategize through when they're reading something and figure
things out um there's vocabulary level for the blue one here the purple one's writing strategies and levels and then grammatic um grammar and Mechanics for that last one these first two kind of over average especially the first one is it's it's an overall Ela level so what I interpret from that again not a reading
teacher but kind of takes some of those strategies and how well are students performing on these things it's a 600 level number so again this is the start of the Year data it's the fall data okay so again we're looking for Real Time data looking the show world right um so essentially what that means is they're achieving around the sixth grade level
but it's 6 66 in this case that means they've also their 66 through per through the sixth grade stuff and so then they're on their way to when they get to 700 they'll be at seventh grade Readiness level the first one again is kind of an overall in terms of incorporating vocabulary grammar all those things and
then the orange one is an overall reading level again which I kind of read about interpreted is just more like what they can what level they kind of read at what kind of books they understand so um again near a SE seventh grade level in terms of where the seventh grade is right now and you can look at the eighth grade to and see kind of where they're
at so again biggest thing with this is it just kind of provides the Baseline and work on things in curriculum and all that we look for them to go up as the year goes on I think I missed this Ela is that English language assessment level English language um something like that English language
arts yeah thank English language arts overall English language arts um okay and you can go to the math now and then the math one again similar kind of ideas there's an overall bar the beginning for overall math level and then there's the different kind of
category specific guess I'll go to the eighth grade one just because it's easier for me to talk about because that's me so um again overall math level six and so their achievement about sixth grade level I know it sounds like oh my gosh you're there s wall again I also gave this test three days after the summer break so again we're we're just kind of getting back into things and
again the idea is seeing that the numbers are going to rise that's averaging all um students in the eth grade ones that do well ones that struggle right so there's kind of a mid point um again all these other ones are just orange one is number and operation again their number sense um algebraic levels the gray one that's the one you
probably see when I present later again in January and then again in June probably when you'll see the most increase because eth grade is linear algebra so that's what we're focusing on so we see a lot of that um fractions geometry measurement and data and statistics are the other one and again just being honest again our curriculum
is based on eighth grade standards in our eighth grade standard set by the state like we don't do a lot of measurement stuff okay so this one you what's like oh my gosh fourth grade what but we don't cover a lot of that in terms of what it is in terms of what our curriculum ask for and ask for problems like i' I've seen
what the kids are doing for these it'll say like how many cups are in a court you know and again I in my mind you know anybody know how many cup in cour you know I mean it's something they can look up you know so we're not I'm just saying we're not we're not focusing
it's four anyway four okay it's like it's not something we're focusing on I'm not going to spend three days on it so that's why don't expect that one to move a bunch same thing with fractions like we we use fractions but we're not focused on fractions so just
understand um again this gives us a chance to see some realtime data again how the year goes along but I I'll just predict again for eth grade and the ones that will probably go up the most are the overall and especially those first two and maybe um the geometry a little bit too other ones they'll don't be worried if they're not moving as much
because again they're not based on speak okay I really appreciate this this is exactly what we were asking for to have like your Baseline testing right now and and then it would be great to see the next graph be like this is how much gain they've made in those
different areas because this is so much more meaningful than their test score from last year I mean really and we know there's a summer slide we know there's other factors involved but I'm I really like this yeah we just have one more slide
down here which is just again kind of some of the things like you're asking Mo so what do we do when students are struggling um whether it's reading or math um again the seven particular we have reading and math Support classes where we just have like 18 to 20 kids who are again working on working on math
a second time that day or reading the second time that day um trying to specifically help especially students that we know we targeting maybe are in that partial range okay um trying to help them in particular again we've got a read specialist 4 six who works with students who are in that some risk range
um um often to help bring those kids up as well and then in terms of plc's um we have pairs in our in our classes as well to help with um students who are on IEPs we talk those Benchmark reports that we use too and again the now the diagnostic and the F per which we're using to to
get some real time data are there other strategies that you wish you could Implement that we just don't have the resources for um maybe two of me you know more more me more time um I mean just our pair of professional sport is awesome we
need more people we we can always use more support um more people to work one-on-one with students more staff that volunteers is that an option you know it can be you know they have to have a heart to be in it and be you know committed to it
so more people I should have asked Vanessa that same question right here behind you are there supports that you would like to have in place in the C building that we don't have the resources for right now kind of like Matt said yeah
it's really personel um I just look at being interventionist at the K1 level I work with two kids at a time no more um oneon-one because that's where we see the most growth um yeah and we chat about interventions
all the time at the K3 you know what can we do to help and what kind of support very good okay next presentation is the bus service plan great so I'm Garrett Regan from pem
Transportation I have John wats from pem Transportation so we are uh glad to be here to kind of run through theor service plan to start the school year have an annual um recap so we have the information in all your packets that you may have seen happy to answer any
questions here at the end but um just wanted to kind of start with a little bit of a recap and general from what we've seen um really good start to the school year um we are obviously new here to to Plain View and Elgen mville schools um had a lot of really good
support from the community teachers we a great group of drivers um taking a step back um the the Grims um had approached uh me and my family about uh uh purchasing their company a number of months ago and we were honored to um
have that um that discussion with them and so we purchased the company this summer and they've continued to stay on and and supported us here through the the transition and will be kind of part of our team moving forward and so we've been able to keep our drivers on staff
and um um and it's been a a good start to the year so we have uh created a connection uh with the JMC that has uh uh tied our routing system together our routing information that's makes it visible to teachers administrators and
families as well which has been a um a success this year um and have gotten a lot of good you know feedback from all the year has started as well um we are we were able to uh purchase a new school bus we have a brand new school bus a 2024 Thomas freight liner that's uh
taking the Bulldogs to victory in a lot of uh games already here this fall so we're excited about that and um John here is our manager on site and has been uh leading the charge here for us um the school year
so anything I missed there John no I think I don't know other than questions I guess look at your backets and you kind of see we're we're still you know we're still working through this it's all new to me as well so we're working through the details trying to get the kids on
the buses where they need to be trying to get them where they need to be on time and you know trying to do our best that way I appreciate our drivers they've helped me out a ton already just being new to this and they've all been here before
so nice it's complicated okay any questions from board members we appreciate you being here it looks like we'll have action on the bus plan later in the meeting uh the next uh item is public comment and we
have some folks signed up for that I'll call people one by one just do want to um put a reminder out there sorry got to get my notes that uh will speakers must identify themselves they are allowed 3
minutes public comment is for input only and you will not get a response if the meeting is recess because of conduct during public comment no further public comment will be permitted when the meeting is reconvened um public comment must be respectful and civil some things
that are inappropriate are signs or banners um clapping cheering booing physical violence and threats I don't think we're going to have that tonight um complaints against individ ual board members or employees or any information
that's relevant to student um academic information so we will start at the top David Gates is our first person so I'm David Gates um my wife and I have lived in eler for the last two decades I
have a senior and a sophomore they've been Bulldogs uh for their entirey of their education um recent actions and inactions by this board bring me here tonight um I feel the community is starting to to gain a voice where we're talking to each other more um we've leveraged the social media platform to
be able to do that for right now we know that's not a long-term solution uh but it's a solution we have now um we'd like to turn that into more constructive ways to bring uh The community's Voice parents voice to help the voice to help the school to help us all kind of get
back on track um and that's you know kind of what brings me here today what I do in my line of work I'm a director of data governance for a a consulting firm out of Chicago I work with hospitals every day I work with CEOs boards talking to them I try to get to what are
your priorities right so not your Mion Mission and your Vision what are your priorities what are you spending time on what are you putting money into if we use that same logic with this board and we look at this board over the last year I think it's kind hard to see what we've been focusing on we've been focusing on
a coaches committee taking a lot of our time right we only have so many hours in the day to do this work had this coaches committee still hasn't met in 10 months yet we're making decisions on coaches we have a strategic plan that's outdated by two years and that's what the data coaches are working off of of your goals
it's two years old already we're working on a staff grievance from last month um with with PTO usage coming off a year of contract negotiations still really have a really tough uh interaction with our teachers I think that was pretty seen pretty well at need
confir um we have superintendent search that's active we had four uh applicants that met that this spring we didn't interview one we set the requirements we set that out we got four applicants we want in my business that wouldn't work
there's there's great people out there if they're meeting your standards I don't know why we're not here uh we have a wellness committee that hasn't met in two years we just have a lot of mismatch in our priorities right like what is the priority of the board what are we focused on are we going to jump into the teachers dayto day are we going to go to the school and
ask ask Administration to do take things off the walls or take people's lanyards off is that what we're going to do that that going to be our our Focus or are we going to focus on these kids so I'll ask with those priorities understanding your priorities understanding your mission as a board and what you're trying to do for
this community I applaud you for putting the effort in but I think we need a reset I think we need folks to understand this community is counting on you to be advocates for us and these kids and these teachers and everyone that's involved in this community that's not happening right now the teachers
asked in the F meeting it been almost a year since Jacob mentioned that they this board needed to come together why are we not why are we not doing that why is that not our Focus this board has to function right now it's not
function so I look at this board when you're making decisions when you're when you're sitting here at the tables and you're asking questions what David thank you for your public comments uh Carly Peter is the next
person on the list my name is Carly Peter and I am speaking on behalf of my sisters and I before I start I would appreciate if all the board members would look at me while I speak so I can make sure I am being heard and taken seriously as my sister
and I have already sent an email to you all and very few had answered as a Schoolboard member it is your job to be professional and respectful and that includes answering concerns sent to you you have already taken away my family's voice so the least you could do is
answer this ongoing attack of my dad has deeply impacted my family and all those who care about him but even bigger than that I want you to think about what you have done to my dad although we are fighting for his coaching position that he has earned in numerous ways we are
also fighting for the attack you have placed on his character what you are doing is painting a picture that is attempting to take away from the numerous accomplishments and respect my dad has earned for years you're also ripping away the opportunity for my sister myself and all the other girls
who love playing for him some of my favorite memories growing up involve softball like getting to go to softball games and meeting his players playing catch in the backyard and countless hours going to the gym to practice since I was little I've always been excited to play with my sister and have my dad as
my coach and you are selfishly taking it away from us you have another chance tonight to do the right thing and rehire my dad as a softball coach please do the right thing thank you for your time thank you Carly Hazel Bartley good evening my name is haa barley I'm a
junior pm and I heing full support of Coach Ben Peter I've been managing for the softball program for two years now and playing on two more I just want to start off by expressing my disappointment and the lack of responses from the board members when I sent an email before the last meeting regarding
my thoughts on this situation I felt very dismissed and ignored situation when it comes to the discussion of Ben Peter coaching I strongly agree with his standard and expectation he sets for his players he always puts a player wellbeing before anything I also appreciate his honesty
towards players when it comes to an explanation on different decision he makes PM's highest competitive team is varsity and one on Varsity playing time is not guaranteed this is expressed at the beginning of the season the argument of equal playing time at the varsity level has been brought up for many
coaches in the district but has not been discussed so don't different for Mr Peter playing time on the PM softball team is decided by attitude effort and skill at the varsity level if you don't meet the minimum skill you simply won't see much time on the field your attitude
towards other players and coaches is very important to Mr Peter and always will be the softball program was built from little to nothing to a pretty outstanding successful program Mr Peter's always handled everything himself for the fields game ready anding games himself handling equipment and
fundraising the softball program would be nothing if it wasn't for everything he's done I don't see a program without him many of us would walk away even though we love the sport and the environment including me before the board makes their decision I would like you to consider the
following things there hasn't been a clear reason stated on why you are putting Mr Peter through this and family you have made many players contemplate quitting over the outcome of this situation and I want you all to take away that you're putting many young and
old through a lot even for no reason I'd appreciate if the board would Express why you are attacking Mr Peter and his family in the first place thank you to the members that responded to my email and those of you who are supporting Ben through this unfair and unacceptable time thank you for listening to my thought and opinion on this on these
matters I hope this Enlighten you around the situation thank you Hazel uh ellerie flan again hello my name is er flan and today I am going to be speaking about all the positive experiences I have had while
being coached by Ben Peter I'm currently a junior at pm and I have been involved in many activities throughout my career because of this I have gotten to know a lot of amazing teachers and coaches however one of the best coaches and teacher I have ever had is Mr Peter
coached by him since I was in fourth grade playing basketball I have so many great memories from the three years he helped coach our team even at that age he instilled in us the importance of hard work hustle and having a positive attitude I didn't realize it then but
these lessons are so important and they have stuck with me all the way to high school in more recent years Mr Peter has been my softball coach he does so much for our team and the softball program I can't Envision this next season without him he does it's getting the fields
ready organizing tournaments or even umpiring games even with everything he has going on he still manages to keep a smile on his face and maintain a positive attitude this rips off on the players and creates such a positive environment I have so many great
memories from softball whether it's our annual Whipple ball tournaments during practice or Mr Peter buying the whole team ice cream after a game not only does Mr Peter have a positive impact on the players but he also has one on the parents other coaches and umpires I've
experienced this firsthand while I was working concessions for a youth softball tournament this summer so many people will come up to the concession stand and compliment how great our softball program was and how well the tournament was run none of it would be possible without Mr Peter and everything he does
for the program I hope that hearing about the positive impact Mr Peter has had on my life and many others will lead you to consider rehiring him as head softball coach thank you for your time uh Charlie eust hello my name is Charlie e I'm a
junior in high school a player on the Varsity softball team and I'm here to support my coach Ben Peter I've been playing softball for Coach Peter for quite some time and I was really hoping I would get to play my last two years with him as my coach during the time I've been coached by him
he taught me so much Mr Peter has taught me almost everything I know about softball some about basketball but beyond that and being an athlete he has taught me to be respectful kind hardworking and helping make me the person and player I am today I believe everyone needs a coach
like coach Peter because he is not only teaching us to be good athletes and teammates but all around good people coach Peter cares a lot about his athletes and will do anything he can to help him that if you want to know something ask him I know he will always
be the most honest with me in everything and I can trust him he has helped create a very good program and environment for his players and I have no clue where this program would be without him he puts so much effort into making sure everything is perfect for his teams no matter what
level at one point I didn't even want to play softball anymore however coach Peter helped me regain my love for the sport regain my confidence and have fun with it again I can IM softball without him and I hope you take time to reflect and reconsider keeping Ben Peter as a Varsity softball coach because he has
truly created an amazing program thank you Charlie uh Skyler Beckle hi my name is Skyler Beckle and I'm a former player of Peters coach is someone who I always looked up to when it came to playing softball it was his
competitiveness and drive for he has for the sport and how he always wants to win as a former player for him for many many years I loved his mindset on how he always wanted his players to be successful whether it was on the field or in the classroom he was always so dedicated to us doing our best no matter what Peter would drop anything and
everything he was doing to ask if they could chat with players and ask questions fix a glove or during the season if they wanted to come in early and work on PING h they wanted he would come he would have that gym open by 7 a.m. with chapons for any of the girls to come in and work and
fix and improve before school his practices were always effective efficient and so much fun Peter always found new drills for us to do in practice and make sure we could fit as many things in as possible that he thought could help us to get better prior to the start playing games each
season another example of him helping us was helping find parents to volunteer their time coaching in the offseason so that we could all play sum teams every single year even though he couldn't coach the winter and summer ball game teams in Fall he'd still show up to
watch support and see his player succeed Peter always had s on his mind another thing I always loved about his coaching was that he always held us accountable if you weren't doing your job correctly or if you had a bad attitude he would help you out let you know or tell you what you could do to fix it he coached
every single player on the team with the same passion and dedication he always worked to make us all better sometimes meant we were being scolded for something there were times we needed it and I truly appreciate it some may see this as a negative thing however Peter
truly cares that much about the team the program and every level that he did expect the older girls to be disciplined with the program being successful as it was with that many girls interested in playing every year they looked up to us older girls we didn't have time for any negative or bad
attitudes of people that really didn't care to be there we all had a choice to be there or not so I'm glad we were all accountable when we needed it to finish this I would just like to say that if it weren't for Peter I wouldn't be playing college softball right now because if I we helped push me to be better from ten
you all the way up and made me want to always work my hardest all the hours I spent in the offseason playing travel Club ball softball and just doing anything I could to be a better player and teammate Peter thank you always for holding me AO and making me a smarter ball player and always pushing to be my
best thank you Skyler uh Karen Miller my name is Kieran Miller and I'm here speaking on behalf of my daughter Ellie in regards to the dismissal of the Varsity Softball head coach Ben Peter she writes I had the privilege of being
a player on this softball team for three years in high school along with Summer leag Peter's coaching style is second to none he drills in the importance of hard work respect and expects everyone to perform to the best of their ability whether it be practice or game he is
very motivated and holds a high standard for his players he does not tolerate bad attitude laziness or disrespect once that game starts you are expected to be all in whether that be playing Outfield ready for a flyball or standing in the
Dugout cheering on your teammates as they are up to bat he thrives off winning and success and watching his players succeed even in life After High School Peter is the best coach I've ever played for and as much as he loves winning and playing the game he always
made it known there is so much more to life than Sports and winning two years after I graduated in 2018 Peter sent a message out to all the players I graduated with checking in to ask how we were followed with please keep in touch
and know that you always have me in your corner let me know if I can help you out in any way good luck and have a great year during Co I had a conversation with Peter about spring Sports being cancell I received this text from him it has
really reminded me that there is more to life than Sports even though it doesn't always feel like it when you're competing although at times tough very competitive and strong-minded coach Peter cares about his players more than anyone I know and would give the shirt off his back to any of us offering to
give rides to and from practice waking up at 4:00 a.m. to open up the 7A gym for players to practice before school staying after practice to help with pitching or hitting or just to sit and listen if you were having a bad day many times after winning games and even after
some we lost he had the bus stop at Dairy Queen to buy us all a cone just because or giving us a night after of practice if only I could beat him in a race we did indeed get that night off of practice because of course I won but I know regardless he would have given us
the night off anyway Peter is a huge asset to this community school and not only just the softball program but all PM P Athletics volunteering to coach other sports like basketball and football volunteering to ra or be a line judge in volleyball the softball fields
being in tiptop shape are because of Peter the concession stand being open for every game is because of Peter the signs on the varsity field fence are because of Peter the Sappo program is what it is today because of him and it would be a huge loss for the future
players of PM to miss out on the positive impact he has had as a coach knowing the importance of hard work respect always giving my best and what it means to be part of a team has got me to where I am today and a big part of that is thanks to coach Peter thank you
Karen um Jason Herbert good evening my name is Jason Herbert I am here representing the head coaches of our volleyball girl soccer cheer cross country girls and boys
basketball dance wrestling softball baseball golf off and track and field programs I want to address some concerns regarding recent actions by some of the board during the September board meeting members of this board went against administration's recommendations to
renew a head coach additionally when voting on a new hire one board member publicly endorsed a different candidate these actions rais significant concerns members of this Bo this board campaigned on the principles of transparency accountability truth respect and Trust
where is the board's accountability when the girls basketball coach was hired and a board member publicly endorsed another candidate was a board member who made that endorsement held accountable the candidate in interview process is to be a confidential one correct additionally when the board
member and board informed coaches that athletic surveys athlete surveys would be used as a tool to help us improve we trusted they were telling us the truth we now realize this was not the case we aren't even allowed to see the anonymous evaluations instead of serving as a
resource for growth the surveys seem to have become a tool used against some coaches respect and Trust are earned over time not automatically granted many of the coaches in this community have built trust with parents and athletes through the years of dedication communication and commitment it is
disheartening to witness board members attending events not to support the athletes but to do what is perceived as scrutiny of coaches we see it our parents see it and most concerningly our athletes see it this behavior is uncomfortable for both the coaches and the athletes it is disrespectful and
demonstrates a lack of trust we encourage you to intend our events to support our athletes and programs come cheer on the athletes but please don't come to judge the coaches we Face a growing challenge in recruiting and retaining coaches because the current coaching environment is unhealthy young
teachers who expressed interest in coaching often retract that interest after witnessing how coaches in our district are treated by some parents and board members when asked about coaching they decline faster than ever addressing the high turnover rate among coaches amongst coaches should be a priority for
the board far more so than attempting to El coaches who are dedicated and passionate about their Sports talk to us listen to us and furthermore support us we also want to address the misconception surrounding a so-called good old boys club and the accusation that we retaliate against athletes if
complaints are made this is simply untrue we do not retaliate nor do we hold students responsible for their parents' actions are there any documented instances of coaches retaliating against athletes or is this just baseless um speculation student athletes do not gain or lose
opportunities based on who their parents are or are not there is no good old boys club within our coaching community in fact if anyone has used that their influence for personal gain has been members of the current board often at the expense of our coaches thank you Jason thank you for your time and
consideration Lexi eust my name is Lexi use and I am currently a senior at P high school I have been part of the PM girls softball program for as long as I can remember this program is one of my favorites because not it's not just a sport it's a family and for Mr
Peter it's not just a sport it's his life he's not in it for the paycheck he's in it to make us better athletes and have a thriving program he's a coach who truly cares about what he does and I personally have never met a coach that cares more than he does he's as honest as it comes and will push
you to your full potential he sees that in his athletes the potential and he works in season and offseason to make sure each individual can reach the full potential I have played Varsity for two years and this spring will be my third and final season at pm and I wouldn't
want any other coach but Mr Peter when I heard the news about everything that was going on I was heartbroken and quite upset actually I have never seen a problem with his coaching style and I actually respect it he has taught me so much on and off the field how to be myself how to be respectful trust your
teammates and lastly stand up for what you believe in this is why I am standing here before you today because I believe Mr Peter deserves to be our Varsity softball coach I hope you take what my teammates and I have to say into consideration with whatever decision is made and I hope you know we love Mr pet
as a coach and a person thank you thank you Lexi uh Ryan Flanigan hello my name is Ryan fling and I'm here to speak in support of Ben Peter eight years ago Ben started coaching our oldest daughter Ellery who
you heard earlier in youth basketball along with Scott angler I would show up to practice so often they eventually recruited me to help out and I've been assisting Ben ever since I've coached with Ben for hundreds of hours over the past many years in both basketball and
softball for both Sports he's always had the same expectations work hard and listen he has shown me the dedication it takes to lead student athletes and create a successful and stable program this can be seen with a large number of
kids who have been signing up for pmu softball in recent years on the field I observe Ben's Love of the Game and his players I've seen the excitement and happiness in The Dugout and big wins and big plays I've seen the encouragement when something doesn't go as intended
I've seen respect and admiration from many opposing coaches no matter what the situation most of all I've seen students learning to play the right way and with the right attitude off the field I have person personally witnessed Ben selflessly giving his time money and
energy to ensure that pm has a thriving softball program whether it's coaching teaching preparing the field organizing concession stand ensuring people have rides finding equipment for kids that might not have any lining up umpires umpiring fundraising or planning
tournaments Ben really does it all it is impressive to see how much he cares about the program the kids and the community that amount of effort and caring is irreplaceable finally I want to end on a personal note I am sad that my kids might not get to enjoy having
Ben as their coach anymore I'm sad that a great program is going to be gutted losing many great players volunteers and coaches over this decision I'm sad that decisions keep getting made that hurt the morale of students and teachers I'm sad for Ben that after giving 20 years
to this program he finally gets to coach his own daughters and then that gets yanked away from him I encourage the board to do better and be better and Reen State Ben as the head Varsity softball coach thank you for your time thank you uh Bailey
Miller I'm and speaking on behalf of Megan Morris formerly Megan Becker she says I am a former seventh grade math teacher and coach from the PM District I spent six wonderful years at p and I can confidently say that those years were the highlight of my career relocating from the Chicago land area to begin my
teaching career in this District was one of the best decisions I've made P became my home not just because of the students and staff but because of the community that exists Within These Walls during my time at PM one person stood out as a mentor and a role model Ben Peter Ben's selflessness
professionalism and unwavering dedication to both education and coaching were unparalleled when I first began teaching I faced challenges including being homeless for a month without hesitation Ben offered me a place to stay extending his kindness beyond the classroom his support didn't
sto there he was always available to provide guidance whether whether it was about teaching and coaching strategies or how to manage the stresses of those early years in education he never steered away from an opportunity to help make a difference for those around him Ben also extended his mentorship to
teaching and to coaching inviting me to join the PM softball coaching staff his work work ethic passion for the sport and dedication to the players were unlike anything I've seen or experienced in other districts his impact on me as a colleague was immense and you can only imagine the profound effect it has on
his players Ben is more than a coach he is a mentor a supporter and a constant source of encouragement for the students and his softball girls he has given so much to the district to the team and to the community and I feel blessed to have crossed PA with him and experienced coaching Underneath
Him the decision to remove him from his coaching role is both shocking disappointed it affects poorly on the district and undermines the hard work and dedication Ben has poured into his P softball program I was once eager to return to PM but this decision and the lack of support at signals has me
question whether this is the same district I once called home I wholeheartedly support Ben Peter and all that he has done to build PM softball into what it is today I urge the board to consider this decision as it does not reflect the values of the district or the community that I know and love thank
you for your time and consideration thank you heather Iden Shan my name is Heather aink and I am speaking on behalf of my daughter Ellie as well as making a comment from Ellie says I had the privilege of
playing under coach Peter from freshman year through senior year during this time to which Peter would dedicate countless hours to me and other athletes looking for opportunity to get better in practice this spent early mornings late evening and even weekend times away from
his family coach Peter wanted to make sure myself and other athletes had the opportunity to get better during my time playing for Mr Peter I 100% supported by him and knew that he would fight for me
anytime and anywhere I know that even now several years postgraduation coach Peter would still be willing to vouch and support for support me if I needed it the class of 2021 received this message from coach Peter in August of
2021 that I held on to that shows just how much he supports his athletes it reads hey ladies I know of you are about to head off to college and some are already there I want to thank you again for everything you have done for me and my family and I also want to wish you
the best in your first year of college enjoy every minute of it you are all very hard workers and will do just fine please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you now or in the future please keep in touch you are all very special to me thanks again coach
Peter additionally coach Peter pushed his athletes to be their best and would provide us with countless opportunities to learn and grow in our athletic careers and beyond that is for mie and for me as a parent I first witnessed the harassment of Ben Peter in 2019 by a
parent I have never witnessed but coach Peter doing anything inappropriate but I have seen on numerous occasions parents overstepping and being inappropriate but that has now become anable behavior and this board has now set a precedence that if you are complaining to the right
board members you can get I'm a coach thank you uh Katie flan again hello my name is um Katie Flanigan and I'm actually reading a letter from Nate Everman who couldn't be here today
um my name is Nate eversman I have asked to have this statement read at public comment as I had other obligations and couldn't be in person I have been a volunteer coach with the summer youth softball programs for several years and the past two years as a volunteer with
the Junior High softball programs I have witnessed the passion that Ben has for coaching up close over these past several years I have seen the work that he has put into the program for for the student athletes and their families I haven't even always agreed
with Ben's philosophy or approach in some situations that have come up over the years but we have always been able to communicate about any issues and move forward there will always be situational differences of opinion in any program
but we can be assured that there is no lack of passion and dedication to the program and specifically to the student athletes in the program our softball program will have some serious difficulties if we need to replace an entire school's worth of
coaches in one year the student athletes will suffer and they deserve better my message is simple I feel that the board ought to consider the recommendation for contract renewal from the administration and athletic director
we need to be able to trust the professionals we have hired and rely on their expertise anything short of this undermines the trust of the coaches and School staff and the community at large especially in the environment that
our community finds itself you have before you a chance to start rebuilding a foundation of trust and a chance to move forward in a positive direction thank you for your consideration thank
you uh Marlin and Karen Graves we are Marlin and Karen Graves we have lived in the PM School District since 1966 our two children and four grandchildren attended and graduated from P high school we enjoyed attending
their sporting events going to every we could were wonderful memories we were co-chairs of the prom committee for several years it was fun watching all the kids grow up and turn into fine adults that was due to the great education they received at pem we love
our school and we thank you for giving those kids a good start in life but what now is happening in our school we are hearing that a local group is proposing Dei training for the teachers will our teachers be training
our students in Dei our children will be taught diversity equity and inclusion what does that mean diversity is everything that makes people different from one another race ethnicity ability age religious
beliefs gender Etc would this call more attention to these differences could it bring about more bullying by accentuating them in one another Equity is not the same as equality Equity means equal outcomes
which is very different from equal opportunities Equity demands things be taken from people in one group and given to those in another group then to achieve Equity individual achievements do not matter inclusive education is when all
students regardless of any challenges they have are placed in age appropriate classes ensuring students with physical Behavioral or learning disabilities are integrated into general education classrooms as much as possible will this not keep the students from concentrating
and training lessons will the teacher have more difficulty controlling the classroom do the parents have any input regarding this proposal there is concern about students leaving our school this
will be happening more and more if these programs are implemented does the school board have the authority to vote this proposal up or down we have spoken with state senator Steve drowsky and State Representative Steve Jacobs
and they both told us absolutely yes they have the authority Minnesota statute 123b .08 or 09 Boards of Independent School District States duties the board must superintend
and manage the schools of the district adopt rules for their organization government and instruction keep registers and prescribe textbooks and course of
study in conclusion our school board is elected thank you Marlin and Ken was oh that's the end of here three minutes okay our school board is elected to represent tax fairs in the BM School District we are asking that the school
board be allowed to vot Y your time is done thank you though yes uh Sam Samantha poshi next hello my name is Smith poshi I a teacher here at PM but today I'm
speaking on behalf of Taylor Nelson I was also a coach um assistant coach with Ben Peter for six years and I coached Taylor Nelson in softball as well as ninth grade volleyball here's what she has to say for those that you may not know me my name is Taylor Nelson I was a
4-year Varsity starter starting shortstop for the Bulldogs that means I played with several different athletes under Ben Peter throughout the years I reached out to my teammates I played with for those four years and from athlet from previous years and asked if they would be willing to have me include
their names in my speech in support of Ben Peter for those that could not be here tonight the athletes who are in full support of B and Peter are 2016 graduates Miranda Torres and Bethany Anderson 2018 graduates Ellie Miller Christy Anderson Samantha Henri and
mallerie ncom 2019 graduates myself Caitlyn Sylvester Aubrey zabel 2020 graduates Sarah Evan Erin Peterson and Megan Clark and mallerie eversman 2021 graduates Ellie eining Mariah Henry Abby
Henri and Addy Graves 2022 graduates tan Hansen Kaylee Peter patience pitier Abby Bennett and Isabelle shoeer and 2023 graduates Claire Henry Emma beniki Marin Graves Presley Nukem and Skyler becko although some of you may not know many
of these athletes I can promise you that not all of them were starting players or Allstar the wide variety of skill levels and personalities that I listed in support of Ben Peter speaks for itself on how he got along with everyone not
only was I an athlete under Ben Peter but for the past three seasons I have also been a part of the coaching staff as an eighth grade coach I have not seen a head coach more involved and interested in every single level like Mr Peter has he has never failed to cons
consistently ask me how I'm doing or or if I need anything from him I can confidently say that he supports his coaching staff at all levels and his players all the same as I now have experienced both to get rid of a coach
so dedicated and so passionate just because some people don't like him is sad and disappointing thank you Mr Peter for being the best coach I've ever had and teaching me how to be a good coach myself thank you thank
you uh darling newom hi my name is Dar newom I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of Coach Ben Peter first let me clarify that I believe coach Peter is dedicated to our students and he has the best interest of our athletes at heart as a single mom of four of the
softball players I here I have personally experienced the incredible support and dedication that he's shown to our children community and the softball family coach Peter has always been he's always gone above and beyond his duties not just in teaching the sport but in supporting our kids in ways
that extend far beyond the field when I couldn't be there to transport my daughters to games he stepped out without stepped up without hesitation he wanted to make sure that my girls were where they needed to be when they needed to be on time and showing genuine concern for their
well-being both on and off the field he's also continued to come and watch one of my daughters play at the college level he did that on his own he was personally he has personally invested in the team he purchases BS gloves catcher gear other equipment out of his own
pocket to ensure that every player has what they need to succeed he's organized many tournaments Summer Ball programs providing our girls with opportunities local and outline to grow and Excel his passion for softball and our kids is
undeniable I must acknowledge that there are some that may feel that his coaching Styles raise concerns about his approach it can sometimes be seen as unyielding or overly intense it is essential to recognize this part coaching is not a
one-size fits all Endeavor different athletes respond to different styles and while some Thrive Under Pressure others may need a little more supportive environment I've got four they all needed different things he made sure they had it
all coach Peter's style stems from his deep desire to see our children play achieve and be the best and to be proud of who they are ultimately we want our athletes to succeed not only in their sport but also in their personal development coach
Peter's influence extends far beyond the field it shapes he shapes character resilience and teamwork by investing in coach Peter we invest in our students for the future we must look at the bigger picture and recognize the impact
that Peter has had on our community his commitment sacrifices should not be overlooked let's advocate for improvement and support rather than punitive measures together we can create a culture that emphasizes the grow for both our athletes and our coach thank
you thank you uh Kelly Becker hi I'm Kelly Becker and for those of you didn't know me know that the timer freaks me out here a little bit but um I will be fine I wasn't even planning to
speak originally tonight but um when I saw what the concern was I felt like I had no choice but to maybe respond I want to first start out by saying thank you to those teenagers that spoke today and if any of our scores are questionable to you I think those
speeches that all those girls gave show you that we're doing a great job here at BM and so thank you for that girls your courage and brave bravery today reminded me why I'm standing up here and speaking um I want to start by saying Mr and Mrs
Graves all due respect I've had your great your grandchildren I remember your grandparents day I think very highly of you I it is my job though I feel to speak for those of you who know Dr Seuss speak for the trees right speak for those that are too afraid to come
forward and speak and that is what I will always do I'm not going to lie as a 30-year teacher in the school and this community I've given my life to this place and I see what you're doing to Ben Peter and for one second do I not think that a year from now people are going to have
to give a testimony to me because I am being brave enough to speak against things that my neighbors my co my community members my friends and family might not all agree with me so I'm able to keep those two things separate and I
really hope that we can create an atmosphere and I've come here before and said let's all get along and let's all do this I've been here several times speaking to you saying let's reach out let's do this it's getting worse it's getting more and more divisive so for
those of you that are worried about this diversity inclusion and Equity I can speak to the fact that the kids that are making the most disruption in my room are not the kids that are marginalized and are afraid to come out or afraid to even speak in the room those are the kids that are sitting quietly in the
corner because they're afraid of the retaliation that they will get I'm old enough to remember that when I went to school people in special education were in a whole different Wing not even Part I I remember kids walking down the hall and asking who are those kids graciously
and wonderfully those kids are still part of our community they're welcomed in their Champion din room I've taught your children I've taught your grandchildren I've welcomed all of them I'm not asking you to do anything other than trust that your Educators have the
best interest we Have No Agenda if anyone had an agenda it would be me and I'm going to be straight up and honest with you because I have a child a child that is in the lgbtqia+ community and I'm sorry my
child matters just as much as all of your children matter and I'm never going to stop speaking for him and maybe I didn't give birth to him biologically but he mine and I'm going to keep speaking for him I was going to stop that before it went all you oh so I
don't scare you well you know me used to it I'll just keep coming back next month okay mat hi Matt kada teacher JB softball coach and Community member um we've heard a lot of people here tonight in support of Coach V Peter uh many players
many former players and current players um parents coaches um teachers we've heard consistent themes like his passion for the game and no one cares more for his players um or Works harder for his program as someone has coached with him for 10 years um and known him even longer I can tell you honestly all that
is true yet here we are right now Administration has back B throughout all of this saying he should be the head coach of our city softball um all had coaches at pm and made statements saying whether saying what's going on with him is wrong now um even some current board members have voted to renew him um we
all know what is going on right now um and all of us close to this and who understand coach Peter and what he means to the Southall Community are sad and disappointed um in the last board meeting board meeting in June um board member Springer mentioned something that
he doesn't understand understand why there's angst between the teaching staff and and the school board um and it's because of decisions like this um this is why we're asking for the board to listen they have a choice tonight they can choose to take a massive positive step forward in repairing relationships
and improving morale within our district and right now as we all know what can be more important than that if Ben Peter's not the varsity coach um this this upcoming spring all of us who care about the softball program know it's going to suffer us a dramatic setback we're talking about a program that's been one
of the healthiest here at pm and has 60 plus players in grade 7 through 12 the last 18 years in counting program doesn't have that type of participation without great leadership count countless hours of work behind the scenes and coaches who care for all their players but it's all going to come to a halt we
are not speculating that that'll happen that will happen we know it's going to happen that is why so many of us are speaking out tonight Lord the choice is in your hands you've heard the voices of sport for Coach Peter tonight and to go along with that in my hands are the resignation letters of all the paid
softball staff members on that are coaching right now um we'll be turning in our resignation letters for softball if Ben Peters got the head coach coach after tonight like so many others we know that coach Peter should be coaching Varsity Softball this spring and if he's not then we won't be either we are
asking you one more time to please listen it is never too late to do the right thing thank you mat um Andy Hart is the next one choose not to speak tonight okay thank you
Linda Tyson thank you for your time my name is Linda Tyson I'm the high school vocal director and the ja and varsity musical directors our musicals are produced on the 78th stage in Elgen as you may be aware districtwide gym space usage and
scheduling is really challenging thank you Megan Fort Katie pepen Scott Fatam and our principles for your assistance in scheduling and and your support I very much appreciate Ben Peter's support and respect for my drama
programs our drama program excuse me and his flexibility in regarding his softball program when they need to do indoor practice as well as working with me and the drama Department in regards to his classroom which is the seven and8
gym Athletics are a very big part of pen not every district has a good work relationship with the Fine Arts directors and the sports coaches here at PM I see the sports coaches respect our finance programs and
work with us to the benefit of all our students be they actors singers athletes or all three thank you Ben for your support and respect it is truly an honor to work with you as a fellow coach and teacher
and friend thank you thank you okay that concludes public comments thank you everybody who came to speak tonight uh information we have principal
reports John right no sorry here um just be brief but we had our letters training for those we have a large crowd uh Minnesota pass a re act which uh mandates of professional development our teaching staff chose letters which is a
gold standard of professional development that was chosen by the state it's a two-year program and we are um reallyi in the midst of it just finished up our chapter one and we had our first synness day last Friday and everything
joined very smoothly so very informative very good um our k6 staff is working on that plus excuse me k6 staff plus all special ed is working on that um these next two years the last week was fire prevention week we had our firefighters
out here we have a special firefighter sitting just to my right um she was able to help organize all this stuff and and show our our kids as a teacher a teacher can be more than just a teacher can be a firefighter can do lots of things um our kindergarten was kind enough to um
collect change they do it every year this year they were able to collect excuse me 576 $4 to give to the plan VI fire department so big thanks to our kindergarten team and then U with our data presentation we also finished up
our um Benchmark season so we just finished up a week of our fall benchmarks there again it's kind the Baseline some of the numbers that you saw up there earlier uh we will do it again in our winter benchmarks which will be in January and again in May for our spring so that's what we use fast
bridge and we again many data points not just one data point many data points as we make decisions about our our students every day that's it thank you John Mr Rak same comments as Mr Wright
um it's a lot of work it's been busy unit one did get finished last Friday with the online part but um it's going to be a busy two years hopefully it's beneficial by the end it's a lot of work um couple of quick things our non-english-speaking students just keep you informed that's it's really
increased over the years um we have our ESL we also have like in my building have three sixth graders two eighth graders do not speak English I can't imagine myself going to another country and do but we are making progress um a couple things technology wise we have um
a microphone on a teacher it has a device that hooks a student iPad and translates into Spanish for those students the other thing Mr Walton is working on we're going to do is it's it's amazing so it's earbuds
the student wears an earbud you can set in whatever language but again when the teacher speaks it'll translate fairly quickly into their ear into their earbud into Spanish now there are supposed to be obviously surrounded by English to learn that language then teachers can
also they want to they can wear one that translates it into English as the student talks back to them so we are getting we've tried them out we're going to buy a bunch again for three sixth grade students two eth grade and more in the K12 expensive but it's really going to take another step in helping those
students learn so that's it's it's impressive good step um 7day Junior activities and clubs again I put that on there all the time it's something we're proud of um many many many of those activities have started not all of them lots of our students again as I said
hundreds of times this group love the Athletics I think it's important to to a school experience but these clubs are fantastic um a lot of our athletes are involved a lot of ours are the kids that are not your traditional athletes as you look down that list you're looking at
cochet Club I'll guarantee you Mrs Carlson will have a roomful of people doing crochet why because again those kids get together they find some friends they belong they have fun um I would never want to attend the homework club Mrs
poshi they come to the homework club with Mrs pashi it's fun again they have a group of kids that they can do that with so again it's one thing we're very proud of one quick comment the last thing to say is on the day um coaches stuff Julie you mentioned again this is a I just want to clarify
and I've had this comment to me many many times so when you look at like our math I believe it was like 55% proficient at the 48 I think the state average was at 45 like 44 and I I get that many same it's a good question so only only 55% of our
students are proficient well that's true but again there's many factors but when the state average is 44 and you're looking at some of our surrounding schools and our free and reduced population is higher than most schools that's a
factor it's not a bad thing it is a factor it's proven as far as research based as far as the data so you when I consider all those things included what we have here PM which is outstanding kids and families but the state average and our scores I look at that is
seriously you know not only 55% I look it as a celebration we that is a good score there's many schools in our area that would love to be where PM sitting at someone score so I've had that that's a good question Julie I'm not it's not a bad comment it's a good question I just
I hear that over and over so what about 45% of your kids are not there's lots of factors so again in comparison to the state I think we're doing outstanding and again school year last thing off to a great start mid October we're rolling
Good Start awesome thank you Mr Walton uh first thing I'd like to highlight I started my day today at the uh at our Building Trades job site um they're building a whole huge uh garage shed whatever you want to call it um I think
that just highlights uh some of the really amazing opportunities we have for our kids and amazing things that they're learning um from our very qualified and and great teachers it was just really cool to be there gave me some flashbacks from when I used to do some of that work
when I was younger um and just one of the many opportunities that we offer to our kids uh in in our community so um I just wanted to highlight that real quick um speaking of all those other opportunities uh Julie Hart visited the
high school a couple weeks ago um it was a great day for me I don't often actually get to spend like a whole morning in classrooms so that was really nice for me we we saw a pretty wide range um and again got to see some pretty unique things that that happen in our classrooms all the time
um and it was also really good to visit and and answer questions on some kind of a wide range of topics so I would offer or you know if any other board members would like to come for a visit I'm more than happy to set that up yes I enjoyed
I enjoyed that greatly thank you very much I was wishing other board members would have been with me uh I just like I have a number of things on here but I I'm just going to highlight a few things first of all um the activities in athletic office so we currently have at least as of last week
when I submitted this we have 338 users for that PM calendar app um I actually use it quite a bit now more than I was using the Three Rivers calendar so I think that's a really positive thing I've heard good feedback from students and parents uh both we also have the
activities handbook is updated Megan and Scott have uh done a lot of work to try and change how it's viewed and and how it can stay updated more easily uh so basically it's it's more uh live links to take you to the MSL website or this
place um so that those things don't need to be it's not a document that needs to be completely Rewritten every year when changes happen so I think that's a really good thing um student council is going to speak here in just a minute but all I'm going to say is they're doing amazing work and
I'm really proud of them um what they've done so far this year if you could maybe clicked on my report real quick uh and go down just a little bit a little more all right right there um so
letters training is happening we changed our calendar for that we added in staff development time um all of our teachers could very easily use that time for a wide range of things to get themselves better to uh focus on uh different things in their classroom I do think and
and we've Ted talked about this as a team and also with Mr olad at the 78 our teachers except for our special ed teachers are not doing the letters training so they don't have all of that time spoken for by the state essentially um we had a great meeting before the
school year started and then we talked more um on Friday about how we're going to focus our time and so we have a a range of things one of the things is we're really talking about how can we make sure that we're staying up up on the things that we need to do on a
day-to-day basis um we're also talking about our content teams and exactly what they can do more of a long-term approach to uh things that we need to focus on that could be uh focusing on changing standards
that could be a new textbook that we've uh had to adopt or are looking to adopt it could be any range of things but but we're zeroing in on like one thing long-term Focus each content area and then finally as a long-term
schoolwide goal this is something we've kind of talked about for years but we never end up having time to do it um is really trying to redefine what the Bulldog way is as a high school um I know the pre3 uses that a lot the 46 uses that terminology a lot not so much
in my time here at the high school and I think it's a it's a good way to look at things I don't know how many of you are aware of the hierarchy of needs um it's not an education thing necessarily uh just a people thing really but it's used in education it's usually a pyramid uh
but I saw this and this is something we talked about quite a bit on Friday is just all of the things thinking now in the education uh angle all of the things our kids come to school with or without and if you look at this diagram and
think about that very center if all of our needs are met we're able to learn we're able ble to grow um as individuals and as a learning community but then when we get to a point where we're only getting one of those needs when we're only getting uh basic needs met or we're
not getting our basic needs met or we're not feeling useful or we're not getting connection it makes it all that much harder to do just the basic things grow as a person learn as a person and um you know we spend a lot of time talking
about academics and that's why we're here that's why we're Educators we also have to realize that we're we're working around all of these things as we're trying to be um Educators so I just thought I'd bring that uh as kind of a
point to you tonight uh showing you a little bit of what we discussed on that full day uh together on Friday very good thank you mik I have a question okay um and this is going back to because when we when I was touring we
were talking about grades n and 10 with their closed lunch uh okay and I'm and I asked you who is liable if our students if our ninth and 10th grade students are leaving the the
property for lunch who is liable if something happens to them I have not gotten I don't and I a student safety issue is my concern well I guess when I mean honestly when someone decides to bring a a legal
complaint I I think the general practice is to sue every possible person you can I mean I and then the liability issue I think is up to someone out of our hands now I know that we stated in our handbook and we have staff that that work to make sure that that doesn't
happen we have consequences for kids that don't follow that rule um but we're also not perfect so I don't have a perfect exact answer for that I I would assume you know somebody smarter than me lawyer could could give us more
but that also depends on who that case would go to if something were to come up I guess it's the best I can give you right now I had just one followup question too the um Spanish speaking class that classroom
that we have the teacher that we hired how many how many students are in that classroom right now just out of curiosity well so she does um one class that's focused on math skills for our Spanish students sometimes that's getting them up to and one thing that's
nice about their license is getting them up to like a algebra one credit sometimes that's getting them up to um the point where they could take regular math classes right so there's that one I believe that um is about 10 kids right now okay
she also teaches an elective called uh Spanish for native speakers which is new this year that's really um that's really a pretty amazing class so one one thing we find uh is very common someone that comes to a new country um especially
when they come in high school they're yes attempting to learn English but then we also have them in classes right um that are spoken in English that's hard and they don't have the literacy skills in their home language it's going to be
exponentially harder for them to learn English and learn a Content that's spoken in English that's not so that class focuses a lot on getting them uh better in their home language so they can learn uh the English language and
learn content in the English language uh better so I think there's about 12 kids if I remember correctly in that class right now um and then she also um spends time um working with other teachers uh to try and help those kids when they're
in other classes and she also goes to Elgen as well that's what I was wondering if there's some overlap yep every afternoon Monday Wednesday Friday at the 78 Tuesday Thursday at the 46 not just the kids are non-speaking but also some of the ESL kids helping them with some of that things helping the homework
so every afternoon from 1 till the end of the day she's either at the 78 or 46 awesome I just make a quick point about that so I spent a full period in that classroom and I was the one that didn't speak the language right um that's tiring and I think another thing that
she adds is um those kids get at least one period where they get to hear their home language and learn in their home language and they can take a break quite honestly so she's been a great great hire awesome very good John
just asking about the K3 what are the needs as far as the Spanish Spanish speaking students I think we're in kind of all the same boat you know if we could find Spanish speaking uh parents or teachers we'd love to hire them they just either they're not applying here we
can't find them right so those type of situations what we love we do have a few teachers that are much more proficient than I am and we appreciate that but but it is it's a lot of translation services it's you know when they come to intervention services how do we help
these kids so yeah it's a lot of how do we translate who can we get to help us or what technology as as these guys we talking about too that we can use to benefit these kids thank you uh student member report
mayy hello everybody so as many of you may know um we recently completed our homecoming which featured a wide variety of fun events and activities um geared towards our student body and our district as a whole um we
enjoyed various dress up days throughout the week um a dodgeball tournament which the sophomore team unfortunately won coronation ceremony uh fun Battle of um musical chair
trivia uh parade and a very very fun dance um student participation in all of these events was wonderful this year we had a lot of kids showing up to all of the events um especially the dance um and we received positive
feedback for nearly every event that we put on this year um throughout the week and we just wanted to really um express our gratitude to all of you guys you know teachers staff School Board Community as a whole for your support and helping making our homecoming week a
great experience for every um our student council also helped sell help the Lions Club sell luminaries throughout homecoming week um we sold them at sporting events these luminaries will be put up in the windows of local businesses during old fashioned
Christmas kind of just to honor and celebrate those kcer in our communities um we're really glad that we were able to help with that and thanks to everybody who helped support that so looking ahead we are planning some
various little smaller projects um we are participating in trun or treat celebration that's in PL you so come see us on the 29 back here in the parking lot um beyond that we are looking into possible ideas for Christmas events and
for events for the rest of the school year um but overall just looking to keep the continue the positivity that we built up and just make it a great year for our community as a thank you all for your ongoing support and thanks for having me awesome I think they deserve a
round of applause anybody has been great watching the student council come together with all of their activities uh maintenance report is attached not sure if is here or not uh any questions about the
maintenance report everything's moving uh Community Ed report is also attached anybody have questions about that okay uh super oh monthly budget report um so I think we had some technical difficulties getting those
reports attached to the agenda but they were emailed to to all of the board members hopefully you get receed those um so we'll me an action on the consent agenda with the treasurers report we'll get those out there as soon as we can other than the as we've discussed the board bills do not go out on the website
due to fraud concerns with publishing check registers and stuff um so let me know if you have any questions on any of those of course um you you can email or we'll get like I said we'll get those out there um I if anybody's had a chance I can take any questions on those um
we've got a couple EXP that are tracking higher within uh with the with the board that's due to the dues that we paid M msba the uh business office that's due to the audit being paid for um ahead of time they they don't allow us to pay that throughout the year and then the
insurance on the third page when you have a chance to look at it um the insurance is that's our liability um policies in Auto and those are paid up front to so bills are tracking high at this point simply due to the timing of the payments I also handed just before
the meeting uh the levy certification we talked about that last month and you did certify uh preliminary or I'm sorry preliminary certification was at the maximum and that's what we asked for in September because due to State Statute we do have to have a board action by
September 30th for the preliminary Levy certification and then um on in December we'll ask you for final certification which will be an actual number at that point when we were here last month the the report was not corrected actually showed a huge decrease due to some numbers not being included yet at that
point they had actually just published those at the state um they've corrected those now the numbers that I show you are now a better reflection of where we expect to be we don't need action tonight I just wanted to get those to you so you had some time to look them over let me know if you have questions
we can talk about them again next month we won't need you to take action on that actually until December um or uh email me we can talk about it but um it's actually shown an 8.59% increase overall at this point and the biggest majority of that for fund one is actually going
to come from the HED Mall uh lease Levy that's what that increases the timing of that with the when those catch up with the levy that's that's what you're seeing there other than that I can pick any questions that's all I've got for
you thank you Jan superintendent report just a few things uh couple things I want to update uh on enrollment because now we're at a point October is a good month to actually look at um what
is our enrollment uh especially in our district when we have a large migrant population um so the good news is um we're a little above where we forcasted so we have 1409 um for our student enrollment uh we
ended last year at 14 17 so um many many years ago I attended a class on enrollment um or a workshop and um they spoke about declining enrollment and they made a reference that if you have 25 or less students um leaving your
District they they actually considered your District to be stable so we'd want to look at this in a a bigger term than one year because if um historically I did find our document of at least the last six or seven years so when you look
at the last five years uh especially if you go back to um 5 years ago that's where we took a major hit as a district we were losing 6070 students a year so um the the good news is uh the last two
years uh we would consider ourselves to be in stable enrollment and we'll see what uh we end up within the 25 26 school year but um that adjustment is you know minus those 70 80 students
um the new reality of our stable uh enrollment is being in that, 1400 Mark not well closer to a 1500 Mark um I do plan on um being able to run a few more reports so in October mid October here
uh all of our buildings have to do their child count and that all goes into a system at the state level and that's in there now it's just now the state is going through and um rectifying and making sure everything is is good to go
once that's um all uh certified I can go in and run reports um specific to our district what I'm doing right now with the help of all of our uh secretaries at our four buildings is when I came um we
started a document that that's basically called in and out of our district people coming in and people um leaving so we will maintain that for the entire year the reason I like to have that document is it basically tells me what's going on
for this school year um in looking at that um most of our migrants as we anticipated did leave us um we do have um you know 10 or 12 left out of about 40 or 50 um so those that are here now we hope continue to stay with us for the
rest of the year that's a good sign um also a lot of movement I mentioned this I think the first month when we started it um we have a lot of people that are in our district that have moved from somewhere else and we have a lot of people that left our district that
aren't open en rolling their mom dad um whoever left and and um had to relocate um as part of school um there is some open enrollment and again this is just for this C current year but there isn't
anything that really sticks out to me so we've we've got a few students going to Lake City or St Charles or wherever um there isn't a um District that would use Redwing for an example they lose a very large number of students to goodu um
Rochester loses a lot of students to doota there's nothing on our sheet that shows me any um I can I will run the total numbers out of that report because our secretaries are doing a good job but a student in isn't necessarily
consistently marked as an open enroll student so I don't want to give any misinformation in terms of did they move here are they residents or are they open enrolling but um looking at the sheet from the start of the year uh actually
we picked it up even um into the summer a little bit um to now we don't have any major open enrollment to any specific district and looking at open and ROM and as I mentioned before most of the time a
lot of that is tied back to geographical where do you live um and not so much that we're doing a better job at pem or they're doing a better job at uh doota it's a lot of it is where do I live within a district and we're a very large
District um so sometimes it just makes sense if you're uh on the edge of one of our borders to go to that school that's a little closer but the good news um for the last two years uh and again we haven't finished this year that's important to
know that we want to take that finishing number but I would say that um things are improving in enrollment um in the fact that we're stable um just want to bring up the world's best Workforce and I know we want to referred to that as the
comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness I got to work on that a little bit um the reason we want to keep connecting the world's best Workforce with that is it's in transition to um phasing out the world's best Workforce so this last legislative session um
that's where the comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness came from um so for this reporting period it will continue to be the world's best Workforce with that um additional um name on top of it in the future it'll
just become the comprehensive achievement Civic Readiness uh report couple of changes within it and I know U one of our uh data reports showed the third grade um we choose to do that as a district which you can um it's good
information and obviously something we want to know about um it's no longer required within the world's best Workforce report and it won't be required in the comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness report um but they are going to add and um
they're still working on giving us the specifics there will be a new um goal in there that is prepare students to be lifelong Learners um Mike mentioned u in November um Nate will be here to give us
um some data on um the high school and that really focuses on career in college ready so when you look at the goals that are remaining that I would look at for our high school um all students are ready for career in college all students
graduate from high school and now this new proposed one for preparing students to be lifelong Learners I think that's a journey throughout our even our prek-12 programming but um I really think um
something as far as indicators of students going on to postsecondary education um or the military or something Beyond just um going into the workforce is a good indicator to me on if they're lifelong
Learners um we will bring that um the uh annual report next month because we have to do that also we're currently working on um the 2425 um so all of these goals still
remain the same um the principls are working with the data coaches and wherever we can get the data to actually update those um goals uh evaluation I just wanted to touch a base on a couple of things so currently
I'm working on a new evaluation for the superintendent one of my goals is to leave you guys with a very good system that you feel comfortable using um in evaluating your superintendent I was able to find a few that you've used over
the course of time um I really prefer and I've said this before um whether it's principales teachers the msba is is really my um goto for using resources so I'm putting together what I have used
at Lake City when I was their uh superintendent and then it's been updated with a few um changes because of Statute um so I'm going to uh be working with the board to share that with you I I do think it's important
um that you always allow the opportunity for the person you're evaluating to have input so certainly I'm not mandating you use that in the future but when you go with something that's built by uh msba that includes all of the um standards
for being a superintendent it's a pretty good base I would say um you're going to be in pretty safe ground and our work would would pay off um I'm reviewing all of our evaluation tools as as your superintendent mostly because I'm
curious and also just to find out in some areas what are we doing and how are we doing it um one area I'm working on on with the principles is our principal evaluation because um by Statute a few things have changed this last year and we whether we want to or not have to
incorporate those into those evaluation process so um we're working on and they they don't really give this to you they just tell you that it's now mandated but it's culturally responsible leadership indicators so um that's one of the
things that I'll be working on with the principles um to to see how we include that and then another piece that we'll include U moving forward in our eval system is um 35% of uh principles evaluation has to be based on student
achievement there are a multitude of ways that we can um you saw a lot of student achievement data today or tonight um you know you can come out of fastbridge EXL it can come out of MCAS um so just working on defining what is
that going to look like for us and then you guys um hopefully all completed the um msva self eval I sent a few reminders always include the link so you didn't have to go back and dig it out so our goal with that now is um I
will reach out we're working with Gail Gilman from msba on that so I will reach out to to Gail tomorrow confirm we have all completed the survey um you had to use a special identifier so I only know
the number uh if we're short a number um I will send a reminder again with the link to everyone um and if you are the one that didn't finish it not looking at anyone in particular um please make sure
that you do that because um that's what we need to use moving forward and then remember our next step with that is um they will do a um summary of that and give us a one pager that basically lists the strengths
area of opportunities for improvement and we're going to look at that and then my hope is that we want to take that a step further and use that as a possibility for um overall improving the
board that's it there go uh there are several committee reports I don't know that we need to open them all up are there any questions or comments on any of those committee reports only that I would update on the insurance because I I
guess I'm responsible for the minutes I didn't get to that um so we are changing our um health insurance provider so if you remember uh few months ago um we were under the impression that um we
would get a very favorable renewal rate from Blue Cross Blue Shield our current provider that didn't happen um when that didn't happen northr Partners that's our consultant that takes care of our health insurance um advised us it's probably
best that we just at least um go out on RFP um no idea what we would get but it it gives us another opportunity fortunately we got a very favorable um proposal from Meda um they also did an
analysis of Meda and Blue Cross Blue Shield and really their policies um mirror each other so for our staff um everyone that's under our health insurance um we're going to be able to
have a 7.3 I think reduction in our cost and also maintain um the services um that we're used to so that's the update on insurance very good uh we have a consent agenda
here I move to approve the consent agenda motion by Monica second by Roger any conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion passes uh governance we have acceptance
of donations there was one in there when I now oh one very nice we have a donation for marching band uh from RS got a motion by Julie Hart second second by Jake uh any
conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion passes volunteer winter coaches list is there it's been provided I move to approve got a motion by Monica second by
Jake any conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion passes superintendent search planning meeting okay so um working with uh Amy
Jordan on this another person for msba remember um msba continues to do your search because um they weren't able to complete that so there's no additional cost to the district um this is still
part of that original search um um so we've got a few options on dates um we really want to stay within this timeline um I don't know if did we put the dates on there I think it was November 18th 19th and 20th okay if I'm not mistaken
correct um and and the reason we want to stay within this timeline is um it all is going to build into when we post when we interview when we do the other other steps so we really have three dates to
to pick on I guess if we can't choose from these I will go back to Amy um the only concern I would have is um the later we go into say December um I really see us being in a position
to have this posted um in early December because a lot of superintendant especially current superintendant will apply during the the holiday break just because they have the time to do that so I don't know if I can say how many
want the 17th and we do a straw vote um just by show hands or how do we figure out the date that works 17th is Sunday it's the 18 18th is the m conference so I'll be
up at that get done Tuesday at noon so okay so the 18th would work for me I'm the 19th 19th works I can't do the 20th 19 19 awesome awesome very
good I will let her know that tomorrow and there'll be a lot more information coming on that very good oh yeah we I guess motion motion that we're going to have it on the 19th sure yeah I make a motion
to have that on the 19 November 19th I'll second that okay a motion by Jake second Ron any conversation what time are we looking six I'm thinking six well it'll I'll let you know but I'll 19 okay so we have a motion by Jake
second by Ron for November 19th time to be determined any conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion
passes okay the bus service plan so it was great that GAR and could be here uh there were a bunch of items attached there hopefully everybody had take or had a chance to look get
them just a couple things on this so really while this is we're this is something that's called for in the contract um we did it years ago and then we just kind of didn't do it for a little while it's not a big deal but it's in the contract I think it's
important we follow the contract there's good information here um that I could use as well so but so far as as Garrett pointed out um very very good working relationship I
know Doug and car are still involved but um John um our local guy here is working very closely with um Scott and Megan I look at uh a document that they again used to use yours years ago and now have
gone back to um as far as letting them know all of the activities um where the pickup is where the drop off is the times um just very very good communication and that I'm aware of um neither side has had an issue and we're
almost done with the fall season so great a I make a motion to approve the buser a motion by Jak second by Roger any further conversation all those in
favor say I I those opposed motion passes snow removal bids motion by Stacy second by Ron any conversation all those in favor say I I I those opposed motion passes seniority
list I move to approve second motion by Monica second by Jake any conversation all those in favor say I I those opposed motion passes uh we have old business on here
that is still pending so we will move past that comments I move to adjourn to a closed meeting have motion by Stacy to adjourn to a closed meeting second second by Ron any conversation all those in favor say I I
I those opposed e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e [Music] for
the plan but they close to okay do we have a motion to reopen the regular meeting second motion by Ron second by Monica conversation all those in favor say I I
those opposed motion passes uh do we have a motion on the next agenda item I move to renew the coaching position for Ben Peter we have a motion by Monica do we have a second second by
Jake any conversation all those in favor of renewing the coaching contract of Ben Peter say I I I those opposed say Nay n nay roll call Jake
Thompson uh yes Roger Julie Hart no Stacy no Ron no Julie no Monica yes wow motion fails do we have a motion to
adjourn motion by Julie second by Ron all those in favor say I I meeting adjourned